All things food and health

Vegan Lamingtons

If you follow me on Instagram, you may be aware that for the month of August, my friend and I decided to do a challenge we named Animal Free August! Basically, we set out to eat plant based/vegan diets for the entire month of August. And it’s going well, very well!

This year, we’ve both developed quite an interest for veganism and animal rights. We’ve both become quite educated on the topic of veganism and as it resonates with a lot of both our core values, we decided it was only time before we bit the bullet and transitioned to a more plant based style of eating. The challenge was a way of keep us both on track, and it’s been a lot easier than anticipated.

These laminations came about from a strong craving and desire to eat (non vegan) cake! I have to admit, I’ve always been so skeptical about vegan baking! How does one cook a cake or slice without butter? Or god forbid, no eggs? These laminations are enough to answer those two questions. Vegan baking is sooo easy!

Feed these to the highly skeptical alongside my vegan cookies (previous post) and your taste testers will be pleasantly surprised!

Make a well in the flour mixture, add the oil, vanilla essence and soy milk mixture, bit by bit. Whisk to incorporate and remove any lumps.

Pour the batter into the prepared tin, bang it on the bench to remove any air bubbles and pop in the oven for 20-30 minutes (oven depending) or until golden brown and an inserted skewer comes out clean.

Whilst the cake is cooling, make the raspberry chia jam by defrosting the raspberries in a microwave/on the stove. Add the chia seeds, vanilla essence and a dash of water and let the chia seeds do their thing and thicken up the mixture. You can mash the raspberries with a fork, however they should separate anyway with the heat. You may need to add more water to thin the jam out.

7. Once the cake is cool (approx 1/2 hours), cut the edges off the cake and equally portion up lamington appropriate sized squares/rectangles. I made about 16 from memory, 3 cuts longways and 3 cuts lengthways. Cut the squares in half to make room for the jam.
8. Prepare the chocolate sauce. In a medium bowl, mix the cocoa powder and sugar and pour the boiling water in. Mix vigorously to remove any bumps. Put the desiccated coconut in another wide bowl. Set aside for dipping.
8. On each square, smear some chia jam in between, sandwich together, dip in the chocolate on all edges (I wear gloves for this part), and roll in desiccated coconut. Set aside each leamington on a wire rack lined with baking paper to avoid a chocolate/coconutty mess.
9. Voila, you have vegan laminations! Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days – they keep well actually.

Notes

I’m aware this recipe is very long however don’t be fooled. These are so simple to make and the ingredients are what most avid bakers will have on hand!

*I’ve made these gluten free before using half teff flour, half gluten free flour (from coles) and they worked a treat! The teff flour does produce a different colour, so I tested these with normal flour to achieve a true lamington colour.

Normal jam works fine in between the lamingtons, however I find it too sweet so I like to make my own!

The cake batter would also make great cupcakes, just cook for less time!